AS THE YOUNG NATION GREW in population and expanded westward toward the Pacific, the size of the House of Representatives increased, although not at a corresponding pace. During the first half
century the population quadrupled in number, growing from some 3.9
million in 1790 to 17 million in 1840, while Representatives in Congress
were increasing from 65 to 232 members. By 1890 the population had almost quadrupled again, rising to 63 million persons who were represented
at Washington by 357 Congressmen. And after another half century of
amazing expansion, the nation had 132 million inhabitants in 1940, while
the House of Representatives had limited its size since 1913 to 435 members.
By 1960 the population had reached 180 million.

Since population grew more rapidly than the membership of the House
of Representatives, the effect of these changes was gradually to increase
the average number of inhabitants represented by each member. Thus
during the First Congress the constituencies averaged about 33,000 persons
compared with an average of 71,000 in 1840, 176,000 in 1890, 303,000 in 1940, and 390,000 in 1957. In other words, a member of the House
today has almost twelve times as many constituents on the average as
he had in 1790.

It is also interesting to note the effect of these changes upon the distribution of seats in the House of Representatives among the principal
geographical regions of the country. The South controlled half the seats
in the House in the first Congress and today accounts for 134 seats, 31
per cent of the total. New England, which had about one quarter of the
seats in 1790, now has only 6 per cent of the total. The Middle Atlantic
states, which were on a par with New England in the beginning, now have
20 per cent or more than three times as many Representatives as New

Notes for this page

Questia, a part of Gale, Cengage Learning. www.questia.comPublication information:
Book title: History of the House of Representatives.
Contributors: George B. Galloway - Author.
Publisher: Thomas Y. Crowell Company.
Place of publication: New York.
Publication year: 1962.
Page number: 21.

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